Historical Timeline

1765

March 22 – British Parliament passes the Stamp Act in an effort to recover the costs of protecting the colonists during the French and Indian War. According to the Act, legal documents, newspapers, dice, and playing cards will have a tax stamp affixed and the tax must be paid for by the user. 

May 15 – Parliament passes the Quartering Act. It requires colonists to provide soldiers with living accommodations in public facilities like inns, taverns or unoccupied buildings. 

August 14 – First public protest of the Stamp Act occurs. Members of the Loyal Nine hang a dummy of the Stamp Master from a large elm tree that stands near Boston Common. This group and their associates would become the Sons of Liberty and the large elm would become Liberty Tree – a gathering spot for the group for the next decade.

August 26 – During the Stamp Act Riots, a mob ransacks the house of Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson located on Garden Court Street just off North Square. They smash his furniture and carry off or destroy his personal possessions.

1766

March 18 – Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.

May 19 – The repeal of the Stamp Act is celebrated in Boston.

Parliament passes the Declaratory Act asserting its right to make laws binding in the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.”

1767

June 29 – Parliament passes the Townshend Acts – duties on lead, glass, paint, paper, and tea. 

1768

August 1 – The merchants and traders in Boston sign the Boston Non-Importation Agreement and officially begin to boycott British goods.

September 30 – The British fleet sails into Boston Harbor. Two regiments of regulars land at Long Wharf and, shouldering loaded muskets, they march into town on October 1. 

1769

August 14 – On the 4th anniversary of the first Stamp Act protest at Liberty Tree, about 300 members of the Sons of Liberty gather at Lemuel Robinson’s tavern in Dorchester to dine at a banquet that is later described in great detail in the diary of John Adams.

An alphabetical list of those who attended can be found in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. It was compiled by John Hancock’s clerk William Palfrey, one of the participants, and donated by his grandson John Palfrey in August 1869. Some of the names on the list include: Samuel Adams, John Adams, Ben’s ancestor Alexander Edwards, John Hancock, John Pulling Jr., Paul Revere, and Dr. Joseph Warren.  

1770

March 5 – The Boston Massacre takes place. A group of British soldiers fires into a crowd of colonists who are taunting them outside the Custom House and five colonists are killed. Silversmith Paul Revere soon makes an engraving of the event to support the patriot cause.

April 12 – Repeal of the Townshend Acts, except for the duties on tea.

1771

October 17 – Printer and patriot Isaiah Thomas, at his shop in Union Street, produces the latest issue of the Massachusetts Spy. This original paper is shared along the tour route. The engraving for the masthead was done by Paul Revere. 

1773

May 10 – Parliament passes the Tea Act in an effort to save the East India Company from bankruptcy.

December 16 – The Boston Tea Party takes place. After a meeting at Old South Meeting House, patriots, thinly disguised as native Americans, head to Griffin’s Wharf, board three ships, break open 342 chests of tea, and dump it into Boston Harbor. At the time, the event was known as “the destruction of the tea.”

1774

March 31 – Parliament passes the Coercive Acts. These include the Boston Port Bill which closes the port of Boston on June 1 to all but the King’s warships until payment is made for the tea that has been destroyed.

May 13 – General Thomas Gage arrives in Boston and becomes Royal Governor of Massachusetts

June 2 – Parliament makes changes to the Quartering Acts of 1765 and 1766. Previously the colonists were required to provide soldiers with living accommodations in public facilities like inns, taverns or unoccupied buildings. According to the revised Act, the colonists must also offer the soldiers accommodations in occupied facilities including private home.

1775

April 10 – Printers Benjamin Edes and John Gill, also members of the Sons of Liberty, produce the second to last issue of the Boston Gazette they will publish before the war breaks out. This original paper is shared along the tour route. The engraving for the masthead was done by Paul Revere.

April 13 – Ben’s children’s book One April in Boston begins on the morning of Thursday, April 13, 1775. The story is based on the lives of his ancestors. The 10-year-old boy shown on the front cover is Ben’s fourth-great-grandfather, also named Ben Edwards. He lives just a few blocks down the street from the town’s tallest building, Christ Church, known today as the Old North Church. Ben carries an old mariner’s spyglass that once belonged to his grandfather, an early Boston sea captain. Ben believes he can glimpse the future through its lens.

In the book you’ll learn the real story of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, witness the first shots of the American Revolution, attend the reading of the Declaration of Independence in Boston on July 18, 1776, and much more. You’ll meet 10-year-old Philip Edwards, who was given the family spyglass in 1905, and travel with Phil and his Grandpa Ben to Boston in 1909. Here they visit the Paul Revere House and learn of the Revere family’s service and sacrifice in the Civil War. You’ll learn about the important choices Phil makes in his own life and discover where the spyglass can be found today.